Let’s go Endurance racing! American Endurance Racing!

I’ll admit: with work and family, the past several years have been a glut of racing for me. I’ve gotten on the track a few times (once only to be told my car is too loud). But, that is all about to change.

This week Build Race Party will be proudly flown on the hood of TMR Racing’s E30 at Watkins Glen for the second round of the American Endurance Racing (AER) series!

One day, this will be her race car

Why endurance racing?

A group of friend’s here in the Mid-West and I have prepped my Spec E30 325is for a little endurance racing. The objectives for doing this are three-fold:

Amateur racing is awesome, but can get expensive: a team can help reduce weekend costs.

Endurance racing is awesome: testing yourself and the car for nearly 20-hours of racing in a weekend means just finishing is an accomplishment.

Some of the best time spent at a track is in the camaraderie: spending time with friends and fellow racers sharing the same interest is awesome. It’s what Build Race Party is founded on.

A CEO, two corporate Vice Presidents and a doctor walk into a garage…

What’s with the car?

Spec E30’s are pretty simple and the “spec” keeps modifications in-check. And, while my car started in a pretty good place preparation-wise, there was still work to be done. With racing there is always something, in fact.

Erik Shifflett, doing what he does best!

I realized my fire supression system needed to be recharged and the window net was out of date. My friends and I decided it would be best to get Schroth belts that are HANS-specific and we wanted a more protective seat.

Fortunately, I found Murray Motorsport in Ireland and got the seat, side mounts and harnesses shipped to my house for what Sparco tries to rip-off American’s sell the seat alone for in the U.S.

What’s next?

We plan to race the remainder of the season in 2017, and we look forward to sharing some video and antics from the weekends. It’s going to be mostly about having fun, but I’m sure our competitive sides will show pretty quickly. We just need to keep in-mind the famous saying: “in order to finish first, you first have to finish!”

EVERY vehicle in the drive makes more power than the race car… including the trucks

John "Hans" Ackerman started his love affair with cars at an extremely early age.
A lover of racing, fine bourbon and good beer, John "Hans" Ackerman is always looking forward to the next event: ready to Build. Race. Party.